Secrets
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: From a Tumblr prompt: Set a while after Spencer finds out about Toby but before she tells her friends. Spencer inadvertently goes to Paige for help and they become friends as Paige tries to help Spencer get over Toby. Not sure what's going on Emily gets jealous. Paily with McHastings friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Paige had just settled on the couch with a bowl of warm popcorn on her lap and a movie ready to play when her doorbell rang. Her brow furrowed and she glanced at the clock. It was only 7pm but she hadn't expected any visitors. The doorbell was pressed again, twice in rapid succession and Paige sighed forlornly, setting her bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. Her parents weren't home so it was obviously up to her to answer the door.

Grabbing a piece of popcorn from the bowl on the table Paige started towards the door, tossing the popcorn into her mouth as she went. She opened the front door slowly without taking the chain off, just to be safe.

"Spencer?" Paige stated in surprise when she found none other than Spencer Hastings standing on her doorstep. It was still fairly bright out so it wasn't hard to see that Spencer was upset about something. The usually together, in control girl had her arms wrapped around herself and her cheeks were stained with tears. Paige quickly closed the door and unhooked the small chain before opening it again.

"Paige…hey." Spencer tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks but to no avail. "Do you know where Emily is?"

"No, she isn't here." Paige answered with a shake of her head. "I haven't spoken to her since school. Has something happened?"

Spencer shook her head, the movement causing unshed tears to fall. "No, I-I just need to see her. She's not at her house and she's not answering her phone and I don't know where she is and she never ignores my calls even when she's mad at me and I figured she would be here but she…"

"Spencer…Spencer…_Spencer_!" Paige tried to interrupt, finally resorting to raising her voice slightly. Spencer fell silent, biting her bottom lip. "Just slow down for a minute , okay? What happened?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm sorry I bothered you." Spencer responded in a broken tone of voice.

"Spencer, wait." Paige reached out and gently grasped Spencer's wrist, effectively keeping her from walking away. "Come inside. Let me get you a drink."

"I can't, I should be getting back. I have to…" Spencer's voice broke and she trailed off.

"Come on." Paige said gently. She stepped outside and reached out to grasp Spencer's other arm, gently tugging her back to the house. She noticed Spencer's car parked in the driveway out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't entirely sure how Spencer had managed to drive there in the state she was in but she was adamant that she wasn't going to let Spencer take the same risk by driving herself home.

Paige moved backwards, leading Spencer into the house. She closed the door, relieved that Spencer wasn't resisting the light tug and led her towards the living room. She helped Spencer sit on the couch and stood there awkwardly for a moment before she gestured towards the kitchen.

"I'll get you a glass of water, I'll be right back." She didn't wait for a response from Spencer, aware that she wouldn't give one, instead walking briskly towards the kitchen. She poured a glass of water as quickly as she could, not wanting Spencer to run off while she was in the kitchen. Paige walked back into the living room with the glass of water in her hand only to falter at the sight of the usually fiery Spencer Hastings sobbing softly into her hands.

Exhaling slowly Paige approached and set the glass of water on the table. She carefully took a seat close to Spencer and hesitated for a moment before moving her hand to Spencer's back. She was surprised when Spencer lifted her head from her hands and turned into Paige, burying her face in her neck.

"Oh…" Paige didn't move for a moment, caught completely off guard, but eventually she curled her arms around Spencer's back and hugged her tightly. She lightly rubbed her hand up and down Spencer's back, waiting for her to calm down. It felt like hours before Spencer's crying softened, gradually fading into soft hiccups and occasional whimpers. Paige didn't say anything, merely continuing to hold onto Spencer, ignoring the fact that her neck and shirt were soaked with Spencer's tears.

Finally Paige felt Spencer begin to pull away and she loosened her hold, allowing Spencer to lean back. She watched in concern as Spencer wiped at her blotchy cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Here." Paige leaned forward and reached past Spencer to grab the box of tissues from the table.

"Thanks." Spencer's voice was slightly hoarse as she took the tissues from Paige. She plucked one out of the box and wiped at her teary eyes. When she was done she lowered her hand and glanced up at Paige. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Paige shook her head, dismissing Spencer's apology completely. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Spencer sighed heavily and opened her mouth to speak only to promptly shut it again. She looked to the glass of water on the coffee table before glancing back at Paige. Paige nodded silently in response to the unasked question and Spencer picked the glass of water up, taking a long drink to soothe her aching throat.

"Did you get into a fight with Emily?" Paige asked gently, not wanting to seem intrusive but curious as to what was going on.

"No…yes." Spencer shook her head, trying to focus. "I've really messed things up with her. With Hanna and Aria too…I've pushed them away, taken everything out on them, acted out. They probably hate me right now."

"Spencer…" Paige tentatively reached out and placed her hand on Spencer's arm, wanting to comfort her in any way she could. "I can't speak for Hanna and Aria because I don't know them all that well but I know that Emily could never hate you. She _loves_ you and that won't change because of whatever happened between the two of you."

"You think so?" Spencer asked in a small voice.

Paige nodded, completely sure of what she was saying. "I know it. Emily might need some time to cool off but she forgives easily, especially when it comes to her friends. I'm sure you know that."

Spencer nodded meekly, her gaze dropping to Paige's hand on her arm. "Thank you…for this. You didn't have to do this after the way I've treated you in the past."

"Of course I did, Emily would never have forgiven me if I'd let you leave like that." Paige joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I have to stay on her good side."

Spencer managed a small smile, merely a tiny upturn of her lips really but Paige took that as a good sign.

"Still, I'm sorry for ruining your plans." Spencer said, a guilty tone seeping into her voice.

"My plans?" Paige echoed in confusion.

Spencer nodded towards the TV where the title menu of the movie Paige had planned to watch was still displayed.

Paige shook her head. It seemed that nothing escaped Spencer's attention even when she was upset. "It's okay, I've seen that movie a million times anyway. I would have just ended up crying into my popcorn like always."

Spencer chuckled despite herself at the sight and Paige had to struggle to supress a proud grin. Who'd have thought that she'd be able to make Spencer Hastings feel better? Her grin quickly faded however when Spencer grimaced, her hand moving to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked in alarm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Spencer answered, though she looked anything but. "I um…I haven't exactly been taking care of myself lately."

Paige frowned, taking in Spencer's appearance. It was hard to tell because her cheeks were flushed but Spencer did seem paler than usual and she had faint purple circles under her eyes, suggesting that she hadn't been sleeping. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know, a week or so ago." Spencer answered honestly. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately, merely picking at her food.

"A _week_?" Paige looked horrified by the answer, "I'll make you something."

"Paige you don't have to look after me, I can…"

"I'll make you something." Paige repeated firmly. Her eyes locked with Spencer's and she silently challenged her to argue. Eventually Spencer nodded, much to Paige's surprise. Deciding to push her luck a bit Paige continued in what she hoped was a casual voice. "You can stay here tonight if you want, you can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

Spencer shook her head immediately. "I don't want to impose."

"You're not," Paige said reassuringly. "Besides, it'll make me feel better. At least I'll know you're not driving around like…" she trailed off, unwilling to point out the fact that Spencer looked like she was going to pass out from exhaustion at any second.

"Okay." Spencer agreed softly, "Thanks, I didn't really want to go home anyway."

Paige merely nodded before standing up. "What do you like? I'm not great at cooking but I'm sure I can make something that won't poison you."

Spencer internally cringed at the badly worded statement. Her expression must have betrayed how she felt because Paige looked instantly regretful.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine." Spencer's voice came out slightly choked with emotion. She coughed in an attempt to conceal it. "Don't worry about it."

"Spencer…" Paige sat back down on the couch next to Spencer. "I don't know what's going on or what happened to you but I want to help if you'll let me. I just want you to know that I'm here."

Spencer nodded silently but didn't say anything. Taking that as a sign that Spencer didn't want to talk about it just yet Paige stood back up and walked into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder.

"I can make toast, eggs…within reason. Or we have cereal, um…"

All went silent for a moment before Paige popped her head around the door. "I could order out?"

"You don't have to do that, eggs will be fine." Spencer said standing up from the couch. Eager to distract herself from the turmoil of emotions she was going through she walked towards the kitchen. "I'll help."

XXX

Emily started to turn into Paige's driveway without really paying attention. As a consequence she had to slam on her breaks to keep from driving right into the back of the car in Paige's driveway.

"What the…?" She leaned forward to look out of the windscreen and found that the parking space was occupied by a car that definitely didn't belong to Mr McCullers. He was usually out by 9am on a Saturday morning, leaving the spot free for Emily to use. Frowning to herself Emily reversed back out of the driveway and parked on the street. She unlatched her seatbelt before reaching out to pick up the paper bag and the cup holder on the passenger seat. She usually didn't meet up with Paige until lunchtime but she wanted to surprise her.

Getting out of the car Emily gently kicked the door of her Toyota closed behind her before starting up the path towards the house. The car in her usual spot caught her attention as she walked by and she frowned at how familiar it looked. She quickly shook it off however when she reached the door. She rang the doorbell and waited patiently, adjusting the cup holder in her hands. She only had to wait a few seconds before the door was pulled open to reveal Paige standing there.

"Emily!" Paige looked beyond surprised to see Emily. "What are you doing here? It's only…"

"Just past nine, I wanted to surprise you." Emily said, leaning forward to give Paige a light kiss. "I brought you coffee…and your favourite."

"Bear claws?" Paige asked as Emily handed the bag to her. She peeked inside only to find that it was indeed full of her favourite pastry. "Thanks Em, you're the best."

"I know." Emily grinned at her. "Now are you going to let me in or what?"

"Let you in?"

"Are you going to let me into your house?" Emily repeated slowly, slightly amused by Paige's slowness.

"Um…"

"Paige?" Emily asked expectantly, "What's going on? Whose car is that in your driveway?"

"Whose car?" Paige echoed nervously.

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?" Emily shook her head, confused by her girlfriend's odd behaviour. "The car in your driveway, whose is it?"

"Uh…"

"Paige, where do you keep your coffee? I can't find it."

Paige winced as the voice sounded from behind her.

Emily stepped closer at the sound of the familiar voice and looked past Paige, only to see Spencer walk out of the kitchen.

"I can only find deca…Emily!" Spencer stated in surprise. "Um…hi."

Emily was silent as she took in the sight of her barely clothed friend. Spencer was wearing a blue t-shirt with the Sharks swim team logo on the front and a pair of shorts Emily vaguely recognized as belonging to Paige. She'd obviously stayed the night.

"Em, this isn't what it looks like." Paige said nervously as she watched Emily's facial expression. It was clear that she was putting two and two together and she was about to come up with five.

Emily swallowed heavily against the lump in her throat. It all made sense now, at least in terms of Spencer's behaviour…the way she'd been avoiding her, how upset she'd been lately, the reason she'd broken up with Toby. It all made perfect sense.

"Emily…" Spencer stepped forward until she was hovering right behind Paige.

Emily shook her head and thrust the cup holder towards Paige who scrambled to grab it before Emily let go. Without another word Emily turned on her heel and headed back towards her car, tears burning her eyes.

"Emily…" Paige barely managed not to spill coffee on herself as she handed the cups over to Spencer. She hurried out of the house after Emily, ignoring the fact that she was in pyjamas and she was barefoot. "Emily! Wait, I can explain."

"You don't have to explain Paige, I'm not stupid!" Emily stated without turning around. "Spencer is at your house at 9am, practically naked, it's not like you would have had a girly sleepover with her, is it?"

Paige opened her mouth to tell Emily that's almost exactly what it was but Emily was already getting into her car.

"Emily…" Paige stepped forward but Emily locked the car doors and quickly started the car. She pulled away before Paige could make another plea, leaving her standing alone on the sidewalk.

"Shit…"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for all of the reviews guys, I really appreciate them! :)**

**Oh and in response to the questions about whether this is going to be romantic McHastings: Probably not, I'm fairly sure it's going to remain as just friendship.**

Chapter 2

Paige stood in the same spot, staring after Emily's car for a couple of long moments before finally turning around with a heavy sigh. She walked back up the path towards her house and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

"I'm sorry." Spencer said, looking guilty. "I didn't mean to cause trouble between you and Emily. It's bad enough that my problems have ruined things between Emily and I without me messing things up for you too."

"It's okay." Paige said with a shake of her head. She walked towards the kitchen, her thoughts rather preoccupied.

Spencer followed her quickly. "You're not going after her?"

"Not yet." Paige shook her head. "She needs some time to calm down."

"This looks pretty bad." Spencer noted, taking a seat at the table. She set the paper bag and cup holder Paige had thrust at her aside. "My being here even though we don't really get along."

"I know." Paige muttered, running a hand through her hair. They fell into an awkward silence for a few moments before Spencer started to stand up.

"I'm just going to get changed and get out of your way. I've already taken up too much of your time."

"What?" Paige frowned, obviously distracted by her thoughts. "No. Spencer, you don't have to leave, we're not doing anything wrong."

"I know we're not. I just don't want to cause any more trouble."

"You're not causing trouble." Paige was met with a sceptical stare. "Okay, maybe a little bit. That's just a misunderstanding though, you don't have to leave. I want you to stay."

"I don't know." Spencer said unsurely.

"At least stay and drink the coffee." Paige gestured towards the two cups in the cup holder. "Mine is decaf but Emily isn't going to drink hers so you may as well have it."

"Decaf?" Spencer asked, making a face. "You drink decaf coffee?"

"I only drink caffeine in moderation, it sets me on edge."

"Oh." Spencer picked up the cup with Emily's name written on and took a quick drink, humming in satisfaction at the familiar flavour. She felt slightly guilty about drinking Emily's coffee but her need for caffeine overruled the feeling. "It's still gross though. The whole point of coffee is the caffeine."

"Not really." Paige disagreed with a shake of her head. "The whole point of coffee is the taste of the _coffee_, the effect of the caffeine is just an added bonus that I don't need."

"Touché."

"So what do you want for breakfast?" Paige asked, leaning over the table to pick up the other cup. "I can make…"

"Eggs?" Spencer guessed, a hint of a teasing tone lacing her voice.

"Yes, I can make eggs." Paige nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "And toast, though I can't promise it won't be burnt."

"It's okay, I'm not really hungry."

"Scrambled eggs and toast it is then." Paige responded brightly, completely ignoring Spencer's statement.

Spencer shook her head in response to Paige's attempts to get her to eat. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, she just didn't feel like making the effort to eat. She watched as Paige took a box of eggs and a carton of milk from the fridge. They fell silent for a while and Spencer merely drank her coffee and watched intently as Paige set about breaking four eggs into a bowl before adding some milk.

"I probably owe you an explanation." She said finally, her voice slightly wary, "For last night."

"You don't owe me anything." Paige said. Despite her curiosity she didn't want to push Spencer to tell her what was going on. "This is what friends do, right? No questions."

Spencer's lips turned up slightly and she shook her head. "Not really. I like your way though, we should do that. I'm tired of people asking me questions."

"In that case I'll ask no questions." Paige said, grabbing a fork from the drawer next to her. She began to whisk the eggs and milk together, being careful not to make a mess.

"Can I help?" Spencer offered, standing up from her seat. There was still a heavy aching in her chest and she wanted to distract herself from any thoughts of Toby.

Paige opened her mouth to insist that Spencer relax while she made breakfast but upon seeing the other girls face she changed her mind. "Um…sure, the bread is in the cupboard to my left. She nodded towards the cupboard she was referring to. "Could you pass the salt and pepper too? It's in the same cupboard."

"Yeah." Spencer chose not to point out the weird organization, instead walking over to the cupboard. She spotted the salt and pepper and placed them on the bench next to Paige.

"Thanks." Paige said, moving to sprinkle some of each into the mixture.

"No problem." Spencer said, taking the bread from the cupboard. She moved over to the toaster and silence settled between them for a few moments.

"I'm going to find Emily after breakfast." Paige announced, moving over to the hob with her eggs. "You're welcome to stay here while I'm away. My parents won't be home until later tonight."

"Okay…" Spencer trailed off awkwardly. "Um…thanks. I think I will."

"Great." Paige said, sounding sincerely relieved.

XXX

"You have a nerve showing up here."

Paige took a small step back in response to Hanna's greeting. The blonde looked like she wanted nothing more than to slap her. "Um…is Emily here?"

"Why do you want to know?" Hanna asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Paige shifted uncomfortably. It was clear from Hanna's attitude that Emily was there and she'd told Hanna what was going on. "Hanna, it's not what you think…"

"You broke my best friend's heart." Hanna took a threatening step forward, her eyes burning with an anger Paige had never witnessed from her before. "It's _exactly_ what I think."

"It's not." Paige protested, doing her best to stand her ground. "It's not what Emily thinks either. Spencer was…it's complicated."

"It sounds simple enough to me."

"Hanna…" Paige sighed in frustration. "Can I please just see Emily? I need to explain this to her."

"After what you did to her?" Hanna shook her head resolutely, clearly unwilling to back down. "Over my dead body."

"Hanna, I would never _cheat_ on Emily." Paige could feel her resolve cracking by the second. "I love her okay? Just…_please_ let me see her."

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Hanna said though she visibly softened as tears formed in Paige's eyes. "You really hurt her Paige."

Paige swallowed against the lump in her throat, her eyes flicking skyward for a moment. She may not have done anything to hurt Emily but she could only imagine what Emily was feeling while under the impression that she was cheating on her with Spencer. "I know."

"Did you have sex with Spencer?" Hanna asked bluntly.

"No!" Paige exclaimed, her gaze shifting back to Hanna.

"Paige." Hanna stated warningly.

"I didn't!" Paige stated firmly. "I would _never_ cheat on Emily, you have to believe me."

Hanna stared at Paige in silence for a long moment before she finally nodded. "You better fix this." She stepped out of the way to allow Paige to pass. Shocked by the fact that Hanna had given in Paige merely stood still. "Well? Aren't you going to fix it? Emily is in my room."

"Thank you." Paige snapped herself out of her shock and moved quickly past Hanna, heading straight for the stairs. She took them two at a time in her haste to get to Emily only to stop at the top of the stairs when she realized she didn't know where Hanna's bedroom was. Cursing under her breath Paige headed down the hallway until she found a door that was slightly ajar. She carefully pushed it open and breathed a sigh of relief when she found Emily sitting on the bed.

At the sound of the door opening Emily looked up, obviously expecting it to be Hanna returning to the room.

"Em…" Paige stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Paige, what are you doing here?" Emily's voice was slightly hoarse and Paige could make out tearstains on her cheeks. They were quickly swiped at with the back of Emily's hand. "Where is Hanna?"

"She let me in." Paige answered, taking a step forward. "I came to explain."

"I don't think you have to explain." Emily said bitterly, averting her gaze from Paige's.

"I do." Paige insisted, stopping a few feet in front of Emily. "You've got it all wrong, whatever you think happened with Spencer…"

"I find her half naked at your house and I have it all wrong?" Emily asked angrily. "I doubt it."

"Spencer came over to my house last night…"

"Obviously."

"Emily!" Paige exclaimed, her voice slightly louder than she intended. Emily looked up, obviously shocked that Paige had raised her voice at her. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry, just…please let me explain."

Emily nodded briefly.

"Spencer came over to my house last night but she was looking for _you_, not me." Paige spoke quietly, recalling the events of the previous night. "She was upset about something and I didn't want her to drive in the state she was in so I made her come into the house. I went to get her a glass of water and when I came back she was crying so I comforted her, that's _all_."

"She just had to stay the night?" Emily demanded, though her voice was significantly less angry than before. "What? Did one thing lead to the other or…?"

"No!" Paige shook her head vehemently. "Em, you didn't see the state she was in last night. I didn't want her to drive like that. I gave her my bed and slept on the floor."

"You didn't…?" Emily looked up, leaving her question hanging.

"No! How could you even think that I would cheat on you?" Paige asked, hurt by the implication that Emily didn't trust her. "I don't know what's going on with you and Spencer right now but I know that you love your friends and if anything had happened to her you'd never forgive yourself. And I would never forgive _myself_ for not being there for her when she needed someone."

"I'm sorry. I just…I know that you used to have a thing for Spencer and I saw her at your house and…"

"It's okay." Paige moved to sit next to on the bed next to Emily and gripped her hand tightly. "I know that this morning probably looked pretty bad."

"Yeah…"

"You should talk to Spencer though." Paige said gently. "She's in a really bad place right now Em."

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do know." Paige disagreed with a shake of her head. "Did you know that before last night she hadn't eaten for a week? That she's been skipping classes? That she cries herself to sleep at night?"

"What?" Emily looked up at Paige. "No. I-I didn't know that. How do _you_ know?"

"She told me, not about the crying herself to sleep at night, I overheard that…but about the other things. You should talk to her. She really needs her friends right now."

"I don't know what to do." Emily admitted, sounding defeated. "She's acting so out of control, I've never seen her like this. But she won't tell me what's going on with her, she just keeps using the excuse that she broke up with Toby."

"Spencer broke up with Toby?" Paige asked, surprised by the unexpected statement. She'd always though that Toby and Spencer seemed great for each other, she'd never imagined that Spencer would break up with him.

"She won't tell me why." Emily stated forlornly. She glanced hopefully up at Paige. "Did she say anything to you about him?"

"No." Emily looked immediately disappointed. "Sorry Em. Maybe you should ask her again."

"Maybe," Emily murmured, looking down at the bed. "But not yet."

"Emily?" Paige spoke up softly, causing Emily to look up at her. "Spencer said something last night about not wanting to go home and I was wondering…I was thinking about offering her a place to stay for a couple of days, if that's okay with you?"

Emily didn't answer for a long moment.

"If you don't want me to I…"

"No." Emily interrupted. "It's okay, you should do that. Spencer needs someone right now and obviously that someone isn't me so…"

"Em." Paige moved her hand to Emily's back. "Spencer needs you more than you know, even if she doesn't want to admit it right now."

"She does?"

"Yes." Paige smiled softly and gave Emily's back a comforting rub. "She wouldn't have come looking for you otherwise. You just need to wait until she's ready."

"You're right." Emily turned her head to look at Paige. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions earlier."

"It's okay." Paige leaned forward and gave Emily a reassuring kiss. "I understand."

"How did I get so lucky?" Emily mused, smiling warmly as she moved her hand to Paige's cheek. Paige opened her mouth to tell Emily that _she _was the lucky one only for Emily to silence her with another kiss.

XXX

"Paige, I'm not comfortable with this."

"What? Why?" Paige looked confused as she wandered back into her bedroom. "I thought you said you were okay with staying for a while because you don't want to go back home?"

"I did." Spencer shifted atop Paige's bed. "But I'm literally kicking you out of your bed."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Paige waved Spencer's concerns off. "The mattress is surprisingly comfortable."

Spencer was unsure but she nodded anyway.

Paige flicked off the main light, leaving the bedside lamp the only source of light in the room. She walked over to the mattress on the floor and slipped into her makeshift bed. A couple of moments passed before Paige heard the sound of rustling, probably that of Spencer getting into bed. The lamp was quickly turned off, sending the room into darkness.

Paige turned onto her side to face the bed after a few minutes, a soft sigh passing her lips. "Spencer? Are you awake?"

"Yeah." Spencer whispered back after a brief silence. "What is it?"

"You should talk to Emily." Paige said, toying nervously with the edge of her blanket. "She's worried about you."

"I-I don't know if I can."

"Why?" Paige asked, utterly confused by the answer.

"I…" Spencer trailed off, obviously not sure how to answer the question. "It's just complicated."

"Okay." Paige wanted to say more but she was reluctant to push too hard, worried that Spencer might leave. "Goodnight Spencer."

"Goodnight." Spencer replied softly.

Paige lay awake for a while, struggling to come up with a reason as to why Spencer wouldn't want to tell Emily what was bothering her, they were after all best friends. Eventually she fell into a light sleep.

TBC.


End file.
